Kovalev wins exhibition opener for Habs in overtime

With the teams playing 3-on-3, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Montreal’s Mike Komisarek jawing at each other in the penalty box, Canadiens’ Alex Kovalev buried a hard wrist shot past goalie Marc-André Fleury with 29 seconds remaining in overtime to give a prospect-stocked Habs lineup an entertaining, even encouraging 3-2 victory over a veteran lineup of Penguins on Monday night.

Kovalev had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who also had goals by Corey Locke and Andrei Kostitsyn.

It was spirited, to say the least, and the two teams meet again Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, if not with precisely the same lineups.